The Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa scheme recognises a small but growing number of holidays that are putting something back into local communities. One of the first places in the Western Cape to receive accreditation is Hog Hollow Country Lodge, on a regenerated wattle plantation at the edge of the Matjies river gorge.
The elegant African-style cottages have wooden bed-frames, stripy silk cushions, mosaic shower walls and private wooden decks with views of the forested hills and Tsitsikamma's blue-peaked mountains. Local produce, including the day's catch, is served outside on a wooden sundeck or around a communal candle-lit table in the main house. The staff have been recruited and trained from the nearby villages of Kurland and Kwanokathula and help organise community tours and "eco-adventures", such as canoeing and horse-riding, walks in the nearby Tsitsikamma nature reserve and whale-watching from Plettenberg Bay. There's also excellent surf off the nearby sandy beach at Keurbooms.
· A room costs from ZAR 1,056pp B&B (about £74) or ZAR 816 in low season, with i-escape.com, 020-7652 4625.